Tanzania has launched the Online Mining Cadastre Transactional Portal (OMCTP) to provide an electronic platform for all stakeholders in the mining sector in Tanzania to engage directly with the Ministry of Energy and Minerals.
The portal will enable miners to apply, make payments and do all related activities online to improve ministry’s service delivery and increase transparency in the mineral sector.
The Minister of Energy and Mines Mr. George Simbachawene said at the inauguration ceremony of the online cadastre held in Dodoma recently that the aim of the platform is to facilitate mining activities being carried out in transparency and end corruption.
Mr. Simbachawene mentioned that the ministry will ensure that all the services are directed through the new system by the end of August 2015.
Simbachawene added that the new system will enable customers to register application, review the licenses, send performance information and make license payments and royalties electronically.
Mr. Paul Masanja the Commissioner for Minerals in the Ministry indicated that this system will do away with many challenges like backlog of applications setting setbacks in the management of mineral rights, renewal, transfers and extensions.
According to the Ministry of Energy & Mines a total of 3,500 licenses from large, medium and small scale mining were issued in Tanzania till May 2015.
Until 2005 the licenses were handled by hand, after which the Ministry introduced a computer system licensing known by the name of MapInfo which also depended on analysis by hand.
In order to improve the service delivery of mineral licenses, in 2007 the Ministry introduced a system of licensing of mining known as the Mining Cadastral Information Management System (MCIMS) which enabled to connect through the Internet to facilitate the analysis of the license applications out by means of a computer.
